All-purpose fan



Oct. 21, 1958 J. suARE z GRAU ALL-P RPOSE FAN 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 21, 1956 ATTORNEY a! s...- I

luAalrnk o 179,503 F. SUARIQEZ GRAU 2,357,095

JAIL-PURPOSE FAN- 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 21, 1956 INVIENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 21, 1958 J, su Ez GRAU 2,857,095

ALL-PURPOSE FAN Filed Feb. 21, 1956 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY Oct. 21,195

Filed Feb. 21, 1356 J. F. SUAREZ GRAU 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 v ATTOR EY United StatCS Pet v.

2,857,095 ALL-PURPOSE FAN JulioF. Suarez- Gran; Milford, Conm, assignor to The A. C. Gilbert Company. New Haven, Conn., a corporation of Maryland 7 Application FebruaryZI, 1956, Serial No. 567,011

8' Claims. (Cl. 230 273) mounting at the side of a window opening and then used as a floor fanby arranging it to stand on the same compound bail structure which serves to support the fan swingably at a window.

An object of the invention is so to; support a fan, either on the floor or at a window, that the 'direction of the air stream generated thereby can be varied widely at will to suit the ventilating needs of the moment.

A further object is to enable a fan having the foregoing characteristics either to draw air into a room or to exhaust air from the room through a window opening.

A still further object is to enable both the direction of air flow and the bodily position of the fan to be varied independently of each other at will therebyto make available a wide range of bodily positions and directions of air flow. a

These and related objects will appear in fuller particular in connection with the following description of a preferred embodiment of the improvements having reference to the appended drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view of a fan and its means of support embodying the present improvements mounted at the side of a window opening. 7

Fig. 2 shows the fan of Fig. 1 swung to a position somewhat inward from the window opening and turned at an angle to generate air flow in an oblique direction.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the swingable fan supporting bails in course of being removed from their anchorage bracket at the window side.

Figs. 4 and 5 are plan views of the fan positioned as in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, drawn on a reduced scale, Fig. 5 indicating in broken lines one of many different angles to which the fan can be turned to project its air stream in different directions without change in the bodily position of the fan.

Fig. 6 shows a still different bodily positioning of the fan.

Fig. 7 shows the fan of Figs. 1 to 6', inclusive, suspended from the top span of a window opening Figs. 8 and 9 are respectively a side elevation and a perspective view of the fan of Figs. 1 to '6, inclusive, removed from its position at a window and used as a portable floor fan.

Figs. 10 and 11 are respectively like Figs. 8 and 9 showing the air generating unit of the fan swung to angles for directing the streamof air directly upward or atanincline.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the piv- 2,857,095 Patented Oct. 21, 1 958 2 otal joint'between the fan supporting bails viewed as in Fig. 8. j

Fig.' 13 is an elevation of the complete fan and its supporting'bails drawn on'an enlarged scaletoshow details of construction and central sectional views of certainparts.

Fig. 14 is a still further enlarged fragmentary view taken on the plane 1414 in Fig. 7 12 and partially through the center of both bails.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged view taken in section on the plane 1515 in Fig. 13.

Fig. 16 is a view taken in section on the plane 1616 in Fig. 13.

The main component parts of the improved fan con structionare an air stream generating unit comprising a fan motor 12 with its shaft 13 carrying a plural bladed air impeller 14 supported as a unit by and within a cage-like framework 15 which in turn is supported by an outer bail 16 in conjunction with an inner bail 17, both of which bails straddle the girth of the framework or cage 15 and are pivotally coupled thereto so that the cage can swivel in relation to both of the bails about detentive pivotal joints 18 whose details are best shown in Figs. 13 and 14. A like pivotal joint is provided at diametrically opposite points of the cage. These pivotal joints also enable the inner bail 17 and outer bail 16 on occasion to swing relatively to each other'as well as in relation to the cage.

Fig. 13 shows that cage 1'5 may be made of concentric hoop wires 24 of differing diameters connected together at fixed spacings by rib wires 25 of larger gauge welded thereto and of radial disposition angularly spaced about the circle of the hoop wires. Cage 15 is formed of two separable sections, the front section 15a constituting a cupped skeletonized structure and the rear section 15b being in the nature of a :skeletonized cover for the cupped section and removably fastened thereto at peripheral points by thumb screws 26. These screws pass through registering looped terminals of the rib wires 25 on cage sections 15a' and 15b and thread into nuts 28 which may be fixed to the rib wires by welding. a

The cover section 15b of the cage supportsthe stator of motor 12 by means of studs 32 which project rearward from the motor body and are a snug fit in bush ings 33 rigidly held in a support plate 34 which is welded to the wire structure of cagesection 15b in acentral position. Studs 32 are removably retained in the bushings 33 by nuts 35 which clamp the motor body securely to the plate 34 and thus firmly support the complete air stream generating unit. The construction above described enables the fan motor 12 with its air impeller 14 tobe withdrawn from the front cage section 15a for servicing, repairs or cleaning and without disconnecting the cage 15 from the bails 17, 16.

The outer bail 16 comprises a suitably strong metal tube bent to U-shape and plugged at its free ends with a short section of rod 38 to make the tubular end of the bail more solid for the firmer support of a pivot pin 39. As shown in Fig. 14 pivot pin 39 may take the form of a screw having its head nested ina countersunkdepression in the plug 38 and projects inward to receive a retaining nut 40 on its threaded inner terminal. I

The structure of the pivotaljoint comprises a'clutch collar 41 surrounding the pivot pin 39 and fixed there-: with to the outer bail 16. Collar 41 presents adetentive toothed face inward toward cage 15. A cooperative clutch collar 42 presents towardcollar 41 a mating toothed face and is fixedly united with a cup 43 having amounting: flange 44. Cup flange 44 is clampedfixedly against the hoop wires 24 of cage-15 with the aid of a retainer plate-45- which is drawn firmly against; the inner surfaces of hoop; wires 24 and one of the rib wires 25 by screws 46 whose heads engage with the cup flange 44 and which thread into the retaining plate 45. An axially expansive spring coil 50 surrounds pivot pin 39 within the mounting cup 43 and .is compressed under axial tension between the nut 40 and the collar 42 by a thrust washer 51. n Thus spring coil 50 keeps thetoothed-face of collar 42' yieldfably in detentive camming engagement with the toothed .face of collar.41, it being understood that collar 42 is freely slidably lengthwise of pivot pin 39 for enabling the detent teeth on the collars to cam past one another for permitting rotary adjustive movement of cage relative to bail 16. Thus the detentive coupling joint between cage 15 and hail 16 permits unlimited relative swiveling of these parts. Their various positions of adjustment will be yieldingly maintained by the. clutch collars 41, 42.

To afford ahinged mounting for the outer bail 16 the bridging span of the bail is fixedly equipped with two lugs 54 each having a saddle formation 55 conforming to the outer surface of the tubular bail and a hinge loop formation 56 laterally offset from the tubular section of the bail. The saddle portion 55 of the lug is made fast to bail 16 by a holding pin 57 that extends diametrically through the bail tubing, one of whose ends is riveted over the outer surface of the lug 54 and the other of whose ends is riveted over the outer surface of a curved armoring clip 58. For anti-slippage etfect when hinge lug 54 serves as a foot rest in the use of the fan illustrated in Figs. 8 to 11, the hinge lug and bail tubing are encompassed by a tire 59 of rubber or other anti-slippage material which may have a roughened tread on its outer surface.

The holes 64 in hinge loops 56 atford for lugs 54 a free swinging fit on coaxial hinge posts 65 which upstand fixedly from the shelf-like ends 66 of a support bracket 67 that may be secured to the woodwork of a window casing 68 by ordinary wood screws 69. Fig. 3 shows the lugs of bail 16 in course of being lifted off and removed from hinge posts 65 whereupon a detentively toothed collar 70 fast on the bottom of one of lugs 54 separates axially from a cooperative detentively toothed collar 71 fast to the lower hinge post 65. In the same manner that clutch collars 41 and 42 perform, interengaged toothed collars 70 and 71 yieldably maintain bail 16 in various positions to which it may be swung relatively to support bracket 67, the weight of bail 16 and its carried fan providing an axially acting detentive force equivalent to that of spring coil 50 in Fig.- 14.

Also pivotally connected to swing about the common axis of pivot pins 39 are the flattened ends of the inner tubular bail 17, each of which ends contains a fiat hub insert 72 fixed therein and projecting. therefrom. The projecting end of insert 72 contains a hole providing a rotary bearingfit on collar 41 and a stop flange 73. When mounted at a window the inner bail 17 is releasably maintained in planar alignment with outer bail 16 by a catch 74 r'nade fast to bail 16 by a through rivet 75 so that, as shown in Fig. 16, the inner bail 17 is releasably imprisoned under the free end of the catch to keep the bails in alignment until they are purposely separated to an angle of spread as shown in Figs. 8 to 12.

The degree of spread of the bails is limited to the angle shown in Figs. 8, 10 and 12 by engagement of the aforesaid stop flange 73 on the hub insert 72 with bail 16. Hence bails 16 and -17 can serve the double purpose of a support bracket for swingably mounting the fan in various positional relations to a window opening or may serve as the legs of a stand by which the fan can rest in any desired location on a table or on the floor of a room as shown in Figs. 9 and 11. In all of such locations, either at a window or on the floor, the cage 15 and its contained air flow generating unit is tiltable to any chosen angle of elevationthroughout a full range of 360 degrees angular adjustment. When resting on the floor or on a table, the soft friction surface of rubbertires '59 provides a snubbing cling to the su'rfacelof the floor or table and protects polished surfaces fro'm bein'g marred.

In Fig. 7 the support bracket 67 is seen to be fixed to the downward facing surface of the top span of a window casing and the bail 16 hangs removably suspended therefrom by hinged engagement of the bail lugs 54 with bracket posts as in Figs. 2 and 3. A spring 78 stretched between bail 16 and bracket 67 yieldingly maintains the camming teeth of clutch collars and 71 in detentive engagement whereby the cage 15 can be swung toward and away from the window opening and be automatically maintained in any adjusted bodily position while still tiltable into any desired angular relation to the bails.

The manner of using and operating the improved fan will have become clear from the foregoing description and accompanying illustrations. Among many variations of the actual constructions herein proposed it will readily be recognized that the clutch collar 41 might be made fast to the inner bail 17 instead of to the outer bail 16, that the outer. bail 16 may carry a stop flange for the described purpose of flange 73, and that the hinge posts 65 may be carried by and depend from the hinge lugs 54 instead of upstanding from the mounting bracket 67. In the latter case the shelf ends 66 of the mounting bracket will contain the bearing hole 64.

Since these and many other departures in detail from the exact shapes and arrangement of parts herein shown are contemplated within the scope of this invention, the following claims are intended to be interpreted as broadly as is the overall meaning of the terms used therein to define the improvements.

I claim:

1. An all-purpose fan embodying in combination, an air flow generating unit comprising a motor with coaxial shaft and rotary air impeller, a skeletonized framework united with and supporting said unit, an outer bail straddling said framework and pivotally connected thereto to swing about an axis of tilt disposed crosswise the axis of rotation of said air impeller, a swingable inner bail also straddling said framework and pivotally connected thereto and also pivotally connected to said outer bail in a manner to be swingable toward and away from planar alignment therewith, detent devices operatively relating one of said bails to said framework in a manner releasably to retain the same in various relative angular positions to which said bail and framework may be swung, stop means so operatively relating said bails as to limit the degree of divergence thereof from said approximately planar alignment, and at least one hinge lug fixed on a portion of said outer bail relatively remote from said framework and having means of pivotal mounting offset from said outer bail.

2. An all-purpose fan as defined in claim 1, in which there are two of the said hinge lugs spaced apart along the said portion ofthe said outer bail whose said means of pivotal mounting are in alignment along an axis parallel with the said axis of tilt.

3. An all-purpose fan as defined in claim 2, together with a tire havinga friction affording external surface encompassing each of the said lugs and the said outer bail.

4. An all-purpose fan as defined in claim 1, together with cam-shaped detentive teeth formed on one axial end surface of the said hinge lug roundabout the said offset means of pivotal mounting, Wherefore to stay the said outer bail in selected positions relatively to a means of support therefore.

5. An all-purpose fan .as defined in claim 4, in which the said means of support comprises a mounting bracket equipped for pivotal engagement with the said hinge lug and presenting detentive teeth into camming engagement with the said detentive teeth on the said hinge lug.

6. An all-purpose fan as defined in claim 5, together with a spring stretched between the said outer bail and the said mounting bracket in a direction to urge the said detentive teeth into yieldable camming engagement.

7. An all-purpose fan embodying in combination, an

air flow generating unit comprising a motor with coaxial shaft and rotary air impeller, a skeletonized framework united with and supporting said unit, an outer bail straddling said framework and pivotally connected thereto to swing about an axis of tilt disposed crosswise the axis of rotation of said air impeller, a swingable inner bail also straddling said framework and pivotally connected thereto and also pivotally connected to said outer bail in a manner to be swingable toward and away from planar alignment therewith, detent devices operatively relating one of said bails to said framework in a manner releasably to retain the same in various relative angular positions to which said bail and framework may be swung, stop means so operatively relating said bails as to limit the degree of divergence thereof from said approximately planar alignment, in which said framework and said outer bail are sw-ingably connected by coaxial pivotal joints at respectively opposite end portions of said outer bail, each of said points comprising a hinge pin projecting from said outer bail toward said framework and a hollow trunnion opening toward and secured to said framework having rotary bearing on said hinge pin and a retainer on said pin within the hollow of said trunnion limiting separation of said trunnion from said outer bail.

8. An all-purpose fan as defined in claim 7, together with clutch members between the said trunnion and the said outer bail having interengaged cam-shaped detentive teeth, one of said clutch members being fixed to said trunnion and the other of said clutch members being fixed to said outer bail, and a spring within the said hollow of said trunnion compressed by the said retainer releasably to urge said detentive teeth into engagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,917,327 Preston July 11, 1933 2,215,035 Gundelfinger Sept. 17, 1940 2,224,628 Benson Dec. 10, 1940 2,325,754 Ebert Aug. 3, 1943 2,544,281 Seil Mar. 6, 1951 2,633,293 Jones Mar. 31, 1953 2,711,287 Russell June 21, 1955 2,787,207 Moore Apr. 2, 1957 

